Capacity to Address Natural and Man-Made Vulnerabilities: The Administrative Structure of U.S. Election System Security
Mitchell Brown, Lindsey Forson, Kathleen Hale, Robert P. Smith, Ryan D. Williamson · Election Law Journal Rules Politics and Policy · 2020
This article examines the efforts of American state election offices to address election emergency preparedness including contingency planning and cybersecurity planning. The election infrastructure that supports election security is cataloged to reflect the networked nature of American public service and the characteristics of American federalism. Public data are collected to identify functions of state offices in providing training, resources, and direct assistance to local election administrators for contingency planning and cybersecurity preparedness. Relationships between state efforts regarding election contingency planning generally and cybersecurity planning are compared. We find significant relationships that suggest a strong institutional foundation predictive of enhanced capacity to address election security issues and degraded environments more broadly.